


Expressed of What Waits

by rlb190



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Kidnapping, Poor Bobby, Poor Scott, Sickfic, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Violence, bobby just wants to be noticed, but seriously he deserves love, charles is a bad dad, charles is a little shit, kitty is a BAMF, rouge is queen bee, sick!scott
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-11-04 19:58:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10997925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rlb190/pseuds/rlb190
Summary: Scott thought he was doing a pretty good job.He averaged about four hours of sleep a night, which was an improvement from before when worries kept him up. The kids were all happy and healthy, the danger room working, bills being paid with Scott’s three jobs.There was a roof over their heads, food on the table and clothes on their backs. Scott was nearly eighteen, which meant he could work longer hours, not restricted by minor-working laws. Things were pretty good.Sure, Scott occasionally got a terrible headache once or twice every few days. And, well, yes, he did often vomit blood from stress ulcers, but that only happened about once a week. It was only sometimes that he felt dizzy enough to pass out, and when he did it was only for a few moments.And sure, he really wasn’t eating much, but he was fine drinking coffee to help him stay energized, and besides he hadn’t really lost weight. It was just water weight, after all. He was fine. He could keep going. Sure.or, the one in which Scott is left in charge after Jean's death and goes missing, leaving behind puzzle pieces that may hold clues to the Phoenix.





	1. Catching Up

If Scott was honest, he’d say he forgotten Jean’s eyes. Jean was a touchy subject and most people avoided the conversation. It was hard to even have a conversation these days. Scott was too busy to even think about it. He was seventeen years old and had mutant eyes that could kill someone if he took of his glasses, a dead girlfriend, no high school degree, and thirteen kids from ages twelve to fifteen to look after, not only in their school lives but in their training lives as well. He had not thought about Jean in quite a while, and when he did it was in the few fleeting moments before he fell asleep. He tried to think of Jean before she went off the handle, her kind smile, her confident laugh, and her eyes. But all he could see was Jean, damaged, broken, fires raging and the world crumbling around her.

So he tried his best not to think about her. Or anything at all.

Scott’s routine had changed drastically since Jean died, taking nearly the whole school population with her. They still lived in the mansion, which was and would always be home, of course. But instead of classes taught in the school, they went to school at the local high school. Everyone expect for Scott.

He got up every day at four in the morning. He showered, got dressed, and went off to his morning job as a barista at a local coffee shop. That lasted until seven, so he returned back home. Then he got everyone else up for school and made breakfast and packed lunches. By seven-thirty everyone was up and Scott had his first of many cups of coffee. By eight the high-schoolers were at the bus stop. Half an hour later, Scott drove the middle-schoolers to their school and then made his way back to the mansion. There for half an hour, he cleaned up from breakfast, threw clothes in the washer, and folded clothes from the day before. At nine he left for his second job as a laborer at a construction site, where he worked until three. He was back home half an hour later, did some more laundry and cleaning, then picked up the kids from middle school. By then the high-schoolers were home and working on homework. Scott had to sit down with the smaller kids (like Jaime) to help with homework. At five Scott ran danger room simulators with the older kids while Rouge, the second oldest, did training with the younger kids. By seven, dinner was on the table. By eight thirty the kids were fed, dishes were done, and there was more laundry to do. By nine, the younger kids were in bed, and fifteen minutes later Scott left for his third job, a night security guard. The older kids were responsible for their own sleep times. By one in the morning, Scott was home, too exhausted to do anything except to collapse into bed, only to be woken up a few hours later to do it all over again.

After the disaster almost a year ago, the Professor left. At first he fell into such a deep depression, no one could get him out of it, not even Raven. Finally he left, promising to return with time. Raven left soon after the Professor did, not giving any explanation. Logan and Hank were left, and Logan got a call saying that he had a kid somewhere and left, and Hank was offered a position at a university across the country, with a pay enough to help keep the mansion afloat. He worked long hours and sent much of his weekly pay back.

That left Scott. He was the oldest, he held the most responsibility. He couldn’t let the family that they had found together get separated. He took charge, finding an afterschool job and became the head of the household. But soon bills came and Scott took another job, and then another. He dropped out of school his final year, despite the protests from his teachers. He paid the bills and paid for other things as well, like a field trip Bobby desperately wanted to go on, supplies for Kitty’s science fair project (for which she won first in the school), and bribes to the children protective services social worker that made monthly visits to keep quiet about their lack of supervision.

Although Scott thought he was doing a pretty good job. He averaged about four hours of sleep a night, which was an improvement from before when worries kept him up. The kids were all happy and healthy, the danger room working, bills being paid with Scott’s three jobs and Hank’s support. There was a roof over their heads, food on the table and clothes on their backs. Scott was nearly eighteen, which meant he could work longer hours, not restricted by minor-working laws. Things were pretty good.

Sure, Scott occasionally got a terrible headache once or twice every few days. And, well, yes, he did often vomit blood from stress ulcers, but that only happened about once a week. It was only sometimes that he felt dizzy enough to pass out, and when he did it was only for a few moments. And sure, he really wasn’t eating much, maybe some toast in the morning and then some crackers during the day and a few bites of whatever leftovers they had from dinner, but he was fine drinking coffee to help him stay energized, and besides he hadn’t really lost weight. It was just water weight, after all.

Every week day for nearly six months this was his life. On weekend he got home at one and got to sleep in until six. Then he’d leave Rouge in charge while he worked at the construction site for the whole day. Rouge was pretty good at managing everyone, so when Scott got home all he had to do was fold some clothes, prepare dinner and get to bed. He got almost six hours of sleep on weekends, which honestly felt pretty awesome.

So it was a pretty normal Friday when Scott got up at four, went to work, and then came back to get everyone up. They had breakfast, got their lunches, the older kids got on the bus and Scott drove the younger ones to school. He came home, put another pot of coffee on and brought clean clothes to their owner’s rooms. When he came back to the kitchen, the coffee was done. He grabbed a mug to put it in, but suddenly a sharp pain from his head caused him to pause. Scott covered his eyes grimly as his headache. On top of the headache, he was starting to feel pretty dizzy. Great.

It took Scott everything he had not to drop the mug and pass out as he set the mug gently down on the counter and stumbled his way to the kitchen table, where he leaned on his arms. He couldn’t sit down, because it he sat down he would not be able to get up.

Scott took a deep breath to steady himself. Lights seemed too bright, even with his red-tinted sunglasses, the table too rough and harsh to lean on.

Then a huge crash came through the kitchen window. Glass flew as a figure dressed in all black gracefully intruded. Scott went into action. His first thought was to take off his glasses, but he couldn’t risk the damage. So instead he did the next logical thing. He ran.

Jumping over the table and sliding across the counter, Scott made a break for an exit. He made it through the backdoor into their expansive backyard. He didn’t know, or care, what the figure wanted. All he knew was that he was in trouble.

Scott clamored past the fountain that had long since stopped working. Scott suddenly felt invigorated by the rush fear brought him.

His head, which was so muddled before was clearing up rapidly. He had a faint plan for escape, or at the least the thought to form a faint plan, at least.  He ignored his racing mind, thoughts about what the figure wanted or where the kids were and if everybody was alright and how was he going to explain this to his boss, who would surely fire him, and his body, his body screaming at him telling him to stop, to slow down. And suddenly everything is really warm around him, hot even, but it feels like his blood is turning to ice, and his faint plan of escape is forming properly and the lights are too bright and then suddenly Scott has to stop, his knees buckling underneath him and he kneels on the ground, trying to see past the tilting world and the figure comes up behind him and graciously allows Scott to vomit bile and blood before he feels something pricking into his neck and the world slips away.


	2. Glass and Diamonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rouge discovers the scene and calls an old friend. Bobby and gang get a disturbing phone call, and they group begins the search for their missing friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for all the input! I've decided to go on with the story ^_^ Thanks for the support, y'all!

Rogue knew something was wrong the minute she got home. She had ditched her last two classes for the day and walked home in about an hour, planning on helping out with some chores that needed to be done. Maybe she could even fix that fountain that had stopped working months ago.  
When she opened the door, a tingle went up her spine. It was the same tingle she got when she was about to have her first kiss that left the boy in the hospital, the same tingle she felt when one day she looked at Jean a few weeks before the incident. Something was wrong.  
She knew Scott wasn’t supposed to be home until three, but his car was still parked out front. That was her first clue, but she thought that maybe he had just taken the day off work to catch up on some sleep. But then she dropped her bag and walked into the kitchen.  
There was glass everywhere, thin slivers and large cracks, a pot of coffee still full and slightly warm to the touch. Rogue followed the glass into the backyard, where vomit stained the grass crimson and yellow. There was not Scott.  
She went back inside and dialed his number from the landline. She heard a chirping and looked at the kitchen table where Scott’s phone sat and she cursed. She hung up and dialed another number. It rang three times before the person on the other line picked up.  
“Hello?”  
“Logan, it’s Rogue.”  
“Hey kid. What’s up? You normally don’t call-,”  
“It’s Scott. Something really bad happened to him. You have to get over here right now!”  
“What type of bad?”   
Rogue could imagine Logan already getting him helmet and motorcycle gloves, apologizing to his kid and baby mama or whomever and heading out the door as he spoke.  
“I came home early and Scott’s car was in the driveway. His phone is here and the window is broken and there’s glass and blood everywhere! He’s not here, Logan, something really bad must have happened and all the-“  
“I’m on my way. Call the other kids and keep as many of them out of the house tonight. Have them stay at a friend’s or go camping or something. I’ll be there in two hours.”  
“Okay.”  
Logan hung up the phone. Laura looked up from her coloring book, face stone, but eyes questioning. Logan frowned to himself and looked over at her.  
“I have to go.”  
Laura nodded, her black hair falling in front of her eyes.  
“I’ll come back.”  
Laura nodded again.  
“Pack a bag, I’ll drop you off at Will’s.”  
Laura nodded again, and without hesitating, she gather up her coloring book and markers. Laura jumped up the stairs to her room to get her bug-out bag as she called it, Logan called it a dodge back, like, as in get-out-of-dodge. It was prepacked with everything they could need, food and water rations, clean clothes, a fire starter, etc. But it also held thing that were comforts, like the occasional junk food bar and crayons. Logan grabbed his own bag. By the time he grabbed his keys for his motorcycle, Laura was back, backpack on her back.  
“Let’s go, bub.”  
Logan and Laura walked out the door of their shared house. It was in the country, a few hours out from where the mansion was, full of farmland and trees. It was a good place to hide out, even if it was a twenty minute drive to the nearest grocery store. Logan passed Laura a helmet and she jumped onto the back of the motorcycle. Logan got on after her and they started off down a dirt road, off the edge of their property and into the single paved road. It was a one-way road the whole way down until they reached the highway.  
Will Munson had helped Logan and Laura out when they were first trying to figure things out, when Logan got a call after Jean’s death, saying that he had a kid.  
Logan came all the way out here, only to find out that she really wasn’t his kid, per say, but a clone of his, to some degree. When some not so nice people tried to kidnap Laura. Will and his family had provided shelter while Logan figured things out (and by figuring things out, he means he busted some heads in until they gave up). Logan could consider them family friends. Laura didn’t actually hate them, and Mrs. Munson even brought over some Christmas cookies during the holidays. Sure, they were basically hockey pucks with chocolate chips in them, but Logan still appreciated the kindness nonetheless.   
As they turned the corner onto the Munson’s property, Logan couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. If Charles could see him now, dropping off his pseudo-kid, acting like a father, accepting holiday cookies from neighbors. He’s a real domestic guy, as Chalres would say.  
Logan parked his motorcycle and Laura hopped off of it. Will saw them through front window and walked to meet them, opening the front door as they walked up.  
“Logan?”  
Logan nodded.  
Will sighed, then bent down, hands resting on his knees to meet Laura eye-to-eye.  
“Guess you’ll be staying with us for a bit, little lady. Why don’t you go up to the guest room and unpack your things.”  
Laura looked at Logan, who nodded. Laura nodded back, gave Logan a quick hug, and went inside the house. To an outsider, the hug seemed forced, Laura’s hesitation to enter without Logan’s approval suspicious, but to Laura and Logan, the hug held all the love in the world, the unspoken approval necessary to the safety of both Laura and Logan.  
Will stood back up and looked Logan in the eyes.  
“How long will you be gone?”   
Logan sighed and shook his head, eyes looking down and then back up. “Not sure. A few days. A week maybe? An old friend needs some help.”  
Will nodded, accepting this explanation. That’s why Logan trusted Will so much, not only was he a good husband and father and knew how to protect himself, but he also gave the same amount of trust to Logan as Logan gave back to him. It was an equal trade, and it was something Logan admired about the guy.  
“Laura is always welcome here. The kids love her.”  
Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“You’d be surprised. Call when you can.”  
Logan nodded. “Thanks, Will.” Logan extended his hand, and without a moment of hesitation, Will took it, delivering a firm handshake in return.  
Logan walked back to his bike, put his helmet on, and headed out on the road, leaving nothing but an old farm house and some dirt behind.  
~  
Rogue dialed Bobby.  
“Yo girl, what’s good?”   
There were some laughs and giggles from Bobby’s end, and Rogue guessed he was probably with Kurt and Kitty, and Kurt’s girlfriend, Amanda. Amanda was an oddity, she didn’t have any mutations at all, but she knew about Kurt and the rest of them, having met Kurt when they moved from the mansion to public school. Amanda had loyally dated Kurt even after he accidently revealed his blue-self, and she didn’t seem to care at all. She and Kitty got along quite well, since Rogue was on the only close to her age and she didn’t really enjoy such trivial activities as going to the mall.  
“Bobby something happened.”  
“Wait- wait- guys, shut up!” It got quiet on his other end.  
“What happened?”  
“It’s Scott. Someone broke into the mansion and Scott’s gone. I think someone kidnapped him.”  
“When?”  
“I just got here a few minutes ago. I called Logan. He’s on his way.”  
“Should I tell Hank?”  
“No. No, it might not- I mean, let’s just see what Logan can do. Hank will drop everything and come done here. Scott might not be that far.”  
“Shit. Okay.”  
“Listen, I need you guys to keep the others out of the house.”  
“How the hell are we supposed to do that?”  
“I don’t know! Let Jubilee and Rahne go home for the weekend, their parents are close enough. Jaime can stay at his friend’s house for the weekend-,”  
“Which friend?”  
“He only has that one friend, Bobby. See if Amara can go with them. Ray and Tabitha can do whatever the hell they do on weekends when they disappear.”  
“Sam and Roberto?”  
“Ah, damn. Can they figure something out?”  
From far away, Rogue could hear Amanda. “My parents have a house by the beach. They can stay there with me for the weekend. There’s thirteen of you guys, right? Who’s left, Danielle? She can come, too.”  
“Did you put me on speaker?”  
“I feel like this is important enough to put you on speaker.”  
Rogue sighed.  
“Whatever. Thanks, Amanda.”  
“No big.”  
“I need Bobby, Kurt, and Kitty with me. You guys are some of the only ones who have had combat experience.”  
“Okay. I’ll let everyone know and we’ll be there soon.”  
“Okay.”  
Rogue hung up. This was good. Well, kind of. They had a plan forming. Not a great one, but it was a plan nonetheless.

By the time Bobby and gang had arrived, Rogue had already called Scott’s construction’s boss, security boss, and barista boss to let them know he wasn’t going to be in for the weekend (really bad stomach flu, she claimed) and pulled up the security footage, although she waited to play it until they arrived.  
Bobby burst in through the door, Kitty trailing behind, with Kurt and Amanda following suit. ]  
“Kitchen!” Rogue called out to them and the four of them rushed to the kitchen.  
“Whoa.” Kurt muttered, looking at the shattered glass. Amanda lent down to look at the glass before standing back up, frowning. “That’s not good.”  
“Sure as hell it’s not!” Kitty exclaimed. Rogue shushed them. “Security footage. We need to look for clues, okay? Don’t just focus on Scott. Look for anything that might be helpful, anything that’s out of place.”  
She clicked play.  
It was hard to watch. Rogue wanted to rip her eyes away from the screen, but she steeled herself. It was important to finding Scott. She had to watch, no matter how much it hurt.  
The group watched silently as Scott stood in the kitchen before the windows exploded as someone jumped through them, a figure in all black. Scott’s training kicked in and he jumped over the table and slid across the counter feet first, landing like a cat. The figure followed in chase and they disappeared from the screen.  
Rogue clicked to the backdoor footage and hit play again.  
Scott made a break through the door, sprinting. He actually gave himself some distance between him and his attacker.   
Rogue clicked another angle, this one focused in the backyard.   
Scott had made it a few feet before he suddenly slowed and stopped, looking like he was going to vomit, which he did. The figure shot him with some type of tranquilizer and Scott went down. The figure picked up Scott with unearthly ease, carrying him like he was a sack of potatoes over their shoulder. Rogue kept up, changing camera to camera as the figure went back though the house, through the backdoor and kitchen and out the front door, where the figure stood for maybe a second before a white van came squealing up. The back to the van opened and the figure chucked Scott into it before climbing in afterward and shutting the doors. The van drove off the property and Rogue paused the video.

The room was silent. Rogue rewound the video and paused at the van. She squinted. “H…2? D… 7… 1…2.” She looked at Kitty. “Look that up. H2D712. Who owns that van?”  
Kitty blinked before pulling out her phone. “Give me a sec.”  
Rogue rewound the footage to start. “Anything?”  
Amanda was looking at the glass again. “This much glass from that window?” Rogue looked at her and then at the window.   
“You’re right.” Bobby muttered. The window couldn’t have been bigger than five by five in size, and the amount of glass on the floor looked like someone had completely destroyed an entire window pane of glass.  
Amanda lent down and gently picked up a shard. She inspected it, turning it so the sun hit it. It cast a chrome shadow on the wall. Amanda frowned and poked herself in the finger with it.  
“Amanda! What-,” Kurt started, but stopped in his tracks when Amanda pulled her finger away, clean.  
“No blood. It’s not glass.” As to prove her point, Amanda slammed the piece onto the counter as hard as she could, but the piece didn’t shatter. Amanda picked it back up.  
“It’s a shard of diamond.”  
Suddenly, Kitty spoke up from her phone, having been too occupied with her phone to have been involved in the waves of disbelief that rocked the others.  
“Got it. Oyama- uh, something I can’t pronounce. The van was bought in his name.”  
“Oyama?” Kurt muttered. Amanda looked over at Kurt. “Do you know him?”  
Kurt frowned. “I knew an Oyama once. Two, actually. Oyama is a last name. Yuriko Oyama, she and her brother went through the circus one time, looking for people with ‘special talents’. I was little so I didn’t go with them.”  
“Well it’s the brother, no doubt, because this name isn’t Yuriko.”  
Bobby bit his fingernails. “Oyama like in Oyama Heavy Industries? That’s a huge corporation, why would Yuriko want to rent a van?”  
Kitty shook her head. “She might not even be aware. Oyama Industries is run by Yuriko. It looks like they both have had troubles with the law. Few counts of murder, assault, so on. They look like hitman for hire. But their arrest records suddenly stopped. Yuriko probably because of the company. The brother on the other hand…” she trailed off, still looking at her phone.  
“Hitmen.” Amanda repeated.  
“Hitman,” Kitty pointed out, holding up her index finger. “One person, one name on the lease. Besides, according to the New York Times, Yuriko was in Iraq for business talks. It couldn’t have been her. Her brother….” She paused for a moment, fingers typing and scrolling on her phone.  
“He’s a teacher.”  
“What!?” Bobby exclaimed, at the same time Kurt’s tail flicked in shock.  
“Employment record show… some place called Hellfire Academy.”  
Rogue felt the color drain from her face. “Hellfire?”  
“Yeah.” Kitty looked up from her phone and saw her friend’s face. “Do you know something?”  
Rogue looked down at the computer and then back up at Kitty. “Turn everything off.” Rogue jumped up from her seat and ran past Kitty to the router, which she unplugged.  
“Everything- what-,” Kitty tried to stutter out.  
“They’re listening. They know we know, turn everything off. Destroy everything.” Rogue took the router and smashed it against the counter, shattering it.  
“Shit! They probably have key loggers- ah damn it.” Kitty looked mournfully at her phone and kissed it. “I love you.” And then she chucked it into the wall.  
“What the heck-?” Amanda questioned.  
“Destroy all tech, okay? Bobby, freeze the mainframe in the danger room! Amanda, go through all the room and bring all the laptops and phones here and break them all, anything you can find! Kurt, destroy all the security cameras. Smash the daylights out of them!” Kitty barked out as she picked up her phone and threw it into the sink and turned on the garbage disposal.  
Amanda fled the room, as did Bobby, leaving a trail of ice in his wake. Kurt teleported to the kitchen camera, grabbed it, and smashed it into the floor.  
Kitty grabbed the laptop Rogue was using and ran out of the room. “Rogue, come with me!”  
~  
They ended up in a control room, what Kitty called “the cage”. There were huge panels that went from wall to nearly five feet up, with tangle cabled and blinking lights.  
“Unplug everything!” Kitty ordered. Rogue did so, yanking out cables and wires as fast as she could. Kitty took the laptop and placed it upside-down, and using a screwdriver she pulled the back off, revealing its insides. Kitty went in with wire cutters and started messing with the hardware inside.  
“What are you doing?” Rogue asked as she pulled cables. Kitty got up and took one of the cables and some random pieces of hardware that was lying around before returning to the laptop.  
“I’m trying to get our own VPN running. It’s a private server. I can get us back online if I can get us a web proxy. It won’t reveal the IP address of anything. If I can get it right, maybe a high-anonymity proxy. Then we can check them out without looking suspicious… I’ll have to clear the cache and all cookies too, they could still suspect a proxy if I send package without the high-anonymity server….” She trailed off as she screwed the back of the computer on.  
“I’ll combine it with a firewall. I’ll use Tor as well, three firewall layers, and another security system of my own design.” Kitty flipped the laptop over and started to type away on it.  
“I’ll connect to the school’s Wi-Fi. Their range isn’t that large but mine is, and the proxy can get us past safeguards and blocked sites.” Kitty muttered, although at this point Rogue was so lost that all the information flew over her head. She could hear Amanda smashing laptops and phones from down the hallway.  
“It’ll bounce the IP on a different server every ten seconds, Iceland, Finland, North Korea, France, Cuba… There’s no way anyone is that fast. The further I go, the longer the trail will be to find the starting point.  
Rogue finished pulling out the last wire as Kitty slowed her typing. She sighed and put a hand over her heart. “Ten minutes. New record.”   
“Now what?” Rogue asked, walking back over the Kitty, who was sitting on the floor, laptop in front of her.   
“We investigate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *spooky music* Oooh, the plot thickens. What do you think will happen next? What does Hellfire want with Scott? Why is Bobby Drake such a cutie? Who knows!
> 
> I've also altered the canon from the movie verse. yes, Laura exists, but basically throw most of Logan out the window. Also, I've been having some formatting issues so if you see anything, shoot me a message! I'll update sometime within a few days to the next week as I write chapters.
> 
> Oh, also, I do actually know a bit about cyber security, since for my forensics degree I had to take a view cyber security classes (and forensic accounting, which is as boring as it sounds), but not all of it is plausible. There's no freaking way you can set up a VPN that fast or easily, but suspend your disbelief for me, kay?
> 
> xoxo,  
> rlb190


	3. Why is There a Phone in the Toaster?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group figure out more details and Logan arrives. Things aren't looking good for Scott.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rip me I have the whole story done but it's way to long to post in one go.

Bobby and Amanda sat next to Kitty on the floor on either side of her as she typed away at the computer. Rogue stood behind Kitty, Kurt behind Amanda.  
“What I did allows us full access to their website and network. I basically tricked the systems into thinking that this laptop is a client of it.”  
Bobby looked over at Rogue. “We just did thousands of dollars of damage. What’s up with these guys?”  
Rough picked at her nail polish, a bad habit she did when she was nervous. “Hellfire Club. They’re like the illuminati, but a thousand times worse. The members use it to obtain and exert power, like by using politics and economic influence and stuff. They’ve been behind a bunch of wars and assassinations, cause that kind of stuff helps further their agenda. I had a run in with them before I came here. They’re freaking nuts, the tried to recruit me when I first found out about my powers to go to some school they were forming. I told them I’d think about it but I was a little too freaked over almost killing my boyfriend to even consider it at the time. “  
“Guess this is the school.” Kitty commented, pointing to the screen, showing a massive building that looked like a castle, with a slideshow of kids, smiling and playing sports. It looked like an elite boarding school, and the kids looked like they just popped out of a stock image photo shoot.  
“It doesn’t look like a place that would want to kidnap students.” Amanda commented, looking at Kurt, who shrugged. “This mansion doesn’t look like a place that houses mutants.”  
“Here.”   
Everyone turned their attention to the screen. Kitty had someone gotten into the staff login, giving her full access to the website and its contents. Kitty clicked through a few pages until she reached an email list.  
“Here’s an email that was sent out to all the staff,” Kitty cleared her throat and started to read.  
“Teachers and Staff, as you all are aware, we strive as a school to produce the next generation of mutants. In order to further that cause and ideology, we will be receiving a special guest to the school in a week’s time. Next Friday,” Kitty paused. “That’s today,” she added before going on,  
“Next Friday, we will be canceling all classes. Please keep your students in their dorms for the day. Our guest is notoriously difficult and for the safety of all students and the protection of identity of our guest and students we request you keep an eye out for them. Miss. Frost and Mr. Oyama will be notably absent for the next school week, but the following Monday we will continue classes, with substitutes in for their classes (Intro to Evil 101 and 102, and Xenobiology). We apologize for the inconvenience. Sincerely, Headmaster Creed.”  
Kitty blinked. “Creed like Victor Creed? He’s the headmaster of a school?”  
“And the classes! Intro to Evil and Xenobiology? That’s not normal curriculum, even by your standards. What even is Xenobiology?”   
“The study of synthesizing and manipulating biological systems.” Kurt added helpfully. Everyone looked at Kurt, who shrugged. “I can read.”  
Kitty looked back at the screen. “Their guest must be Scott. They’ve been planning this for longer than we thought. This isn’t some spur of the moment thing. Miss. Frost could be Emma Frost, remember her?” she looked at Bobby, who nodded. “She and the Professor used to be fighting with one another all the time. She’s like the only telepath that can keep up with him. Hank told me that she could turn into diamond. Maybe she shed or something when she broke the window?”

Kitty frowned. “Maybe not shedding, but something along those lines. It’d explain the diamonds. Everything fits. This place is a few hours from here, a little under four hours if you take highways, four and a half if you take back roads with less people and cameras.”  
Kitty clicked around a bit more. “The timecode on the camera said it was around nine in the morning.” She check her watch. “It’s three now. They’ve been there for an hour.”  
Kurt clenched his fists together. “An hour in danger. Can you find security footage? A live stream, maybe?”  
Kitty shrugged. “I’ll try.”  
“Okay, so we know where and when, but why?” Bobby asked.  
“Does someone want to explain why there’s a phone in the toaster?” came a voice from behind everyone. Rogue nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned around along with everyone else (except for Kitty).  
In the doorway stood Logan, wearing a leather jacket and a white shirt, jeans, and boots, his face slightly flushed from the heat in the outside.  
“You said you were two hours away.” Rogue said as Logan walked further into the room. “Two hours going the speed limit. What’s going on?”  
Kurt spoke up. “Rogue called us and said Scott was gone. When we got here, the hacked our stuff and we had to destroy everything to make sure they can’t listen or look in.”  
“Why is there a phone in the toaster?”  
Amanda sheepishly raised her hand. “That’s me, Mr. Logan. I got tired of smashing phones with my hands so I figured ten minutes in the toaster would work just as well.”  
Bobby shrugged. “She’s not wrong.”  
“Okay, but I am sure there were other ways to-,”  
“Uh-oh.” Kitty muttered. Everyone turned back to her, bent of her computer screen.   
“What?” implored Bobby, moving closer to Kitty. Rogue felt her stomach lurch, her spine tingling as Kitty moved out of the way to show the screen.  
“I’ve got a live stream up. It’s not good.”


	4. Power and Humanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a livestream about what's going on with Scott. Kitty reflects on her mentor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHY IS THERE FORMATTING ISSUES SEND HELP

It was Scott, strapped to a table, still wearing the clothes he was wearing in the security camera footage. The footage was hazy, not clear like the mansions, but it was clear that the body on the table was Scott. He was tied down by his wrists and ankles, his neck and check. There was nowhere to go. It seemed that they had turned on the footage in the middle of a conversation as kitty turned up the volume  
“We’ll see.”   
Scott had some sort of contraption over his eyes, like his visor, but it looked 3 inches thick, like someone had taken a metal sheet and folded it over his eyes, leaving him blinded.  
Scott strained against the cuffs, struggling to avail to escape.  
“Now, now, Scott.” Exclaimed the woman who was talking to him. She had blonde hair and was wearing all white. Frost.  
“Don’t push yourself too hard.” Frost shook her head and tutted as she opened a file folder and look at its contents.  
“Your results aren’t too good. Exhaustion, nystagmus, malaise, anemia, brought on by a poor diet, I’m sure,” Frost commented. “Tachycardia, Hypotension, Leukopenia, a BMI in the 15’s- goodness that’d characterize you as a severely underweight! It looks like you’ve been working yourself to the bone. I’m surprised you can even walk, really. Tell me, any blackouts you’ve been having while you’re trying to stay awake?”  
“Bite me.”  
Frost chuckled. “I’ll put that as a yes. Scott, what makes you think your friends will come for you when they’ve let you get this bad?”  
Scott shook his head. “You’ve got another thing coming.”  
“Are you sure, Scott? Why would they come to help you when they haven’t before? We haven’t done anything to you yet and you’re clearly suffering.”  
It got quiet for a moment, Frost staring at Scott. Suddenly, Scott thrashed under his bindings more violently than before. “Get out of my head!”  
Kitty slammed the laptop shut, looking pale. “That’s enough.” She looked down at her laptop and then back at Rogue, who was standing next to Logan, looking like she had made eye contact with Medusa, muscles tensed, face emotionless. Kitty thought for a brief moment that maybe Bobby had frozen her, until Rogue took a deep, shuddering breath.  
“We’re going to get him. Get changed.”  
With that, Rogue left the room, Logan stalking out behind her. Kitty looked back at her laptop as the others left the room, leaving Kitty alone. She needed to be alone for a moment.  
It hurt her heart to see Scott in so much pain, it hurt so much it made it physically hard to breathe. Kitty was no stranger to the sacrifices Scott had made for all of them. Kitty had tried to the best of her ability to help Scott, staying out of trouble, taking in some extra income from some programming jobs. She had always secretly admired him, even before the incident. When she met him, he was handsome and good-natured, a confident leader who reeked natural authority, although somewhat standoffish. It wasn’t later that she realized that his hesitation when making friends was due to his powers; one misstep and a wall could explode. Scott almost killed her when she accidently walked into the danger room when he was doing target practice. Scott had seen her just as he opened his eyes, and he threw his hand in front of his eyes. Kitty felt incredibly guilty, but Scott consoled her, saying that it was bound to happen at some point, might as well happen sooner than later.  
Scott had consoled her, even though he could have gotten hurt. He was just that type of guy. He was also so hopelessly devoted to Jean. They had been interested in one another for quite some time before they even started dating when they were both sixteen. He was so in love with her, and when Jean gave in to the Phoenix Force, it crushed Scott. Kitty knew full well that Scott would have gotten himself killed if the Professor had not locked him in the danger room. By the time Hank opened the door to let Scott out, it was too late. Jean was dead, half the mansion was reduced to rubble, and more than half the other mutants died as a result, either in the fire from smoke inhalation or from the building collapsing. The only reason Kitty was alive was because she phased through everything with Rogue in hand. It was all Kitty could do but watch as Scott tore through the debris, hoping to find Jean. When he did all kitty could do was cast her eyes away as Scott cradled her body, head low into her chest, completely silent with grief.  
It was hard to believe that was seven months ago.  
One time, when Kitty first arrived and was having trouble controlling her powers, Scott took her to the danger room. After an hour, they had gotten nowhere and Kitty wanted to give up. She couldn’t even kick anything in frustration because her leg went right through everything. Scott sat down with her in the middle of the room and told her about his own powers. He should have been able to control them, he said, but a head injury as a kid prevented that. And he lived in fear everyday of what he might do to someone. Then he told her a secret that he made her swear not to tell anyone else.  
When Scott was fifteen, he had Tony Stark measure his optic blast powers. Without Scott holding back all, no visor or glasses, the power exceeded 2 gigawatts; that was more than half a nuclear power plant at its peak performance. Scott told her that he had never knowingly used more than a small fraction of his full power. When Kitty asked him why he wasn’t afraid, Scott had given her a small smile and said the words that changed her life.  
“Every human has four fundamental truths that they are born with- self-awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change. We choose how to use power. We choose to change.”  
“What if there is no choice?”  
“There is always a choice.”  
There is always a choice. Kitty wondered if Scott still believed that now.   
“Kitty, let’s go!” Kitty looked over her shoulder to see Rogue standing there, dressed in her uniform, eyes cold and determined. Kitty stood up. “Okay.”  
And then she walked out of the room without looking back.


	5. Rescue from Hellfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team goes after Scott. What they find is disturbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured out the formatting issue is my computer. I gotta update Word. Rip.

Bobby wasn’t really sure what he was expecting involving a rescue mission, but the three hour flight there in the X-Jet was actually pretty dull. For the first thirty minutes, Bobby played Pokémon on his Gameboy as Kitty dug up blue prints from somewhere in the internet.  
They were a pretty motley team, it was just him, Kurt, Rogue, Kitty, and Logan. Amanda was ground support, apparently.  
“You guys are almost there. There’s a field about twenty meters from any security cameras. I’ll send you the coordinates.”  
Speak of the devil.  
“Got it, thanks Amanda.” Rogue replied through the coms before swiveling in her chair to face everyone. Kitty had pulled the blueprints onto her computer so it was full screen. Rogue studied them for a moment.  
“Okay. According to the specs Kitty got, we only have five minutes from when Amanda cuts the power to get in and out before the cameras turn back on. Logan is gonna be here with the jet ready to go.” Rogue looked at Bobby and Kitty. “You guys are in charge of getting Scott. Bobby, watch Kitty’s back. You guys will go through the back entrance, follow this hallway,” she traced her finger along the path they would take on the computer screen “And he should be in the third room to the left. Kitty can get you guys through the door and get Scott out of the restraints. Bobby, you’ll need to skate with Scott. Drag him on the floor if you have to. You guys really only have three minutes to get in and out with Scott, since me and Kurt are gonna need time to escape.”  
Bobby nodded and then looked at Kitty, who nodded as well.  
“Kurt and I will be the distraction. Hopefully if any guards are in the area, they’ll focus on the Goth girl and the furry elf. We’ll go in through the front and make a commotion. Kurt will teleport us out here if things get bad, but he can’t get all four of us out. If things get really bad, tell Logan and he’ll come.”

Bobby frowned. “Why isn’t he coming in with us?”  
“He’s the only one who knows how to fly this thing.”  
“Oh.”  
The jet suddenly landed, smoothly coming to a low stop and Logan turned around in his seat. “Get him, get out. That’s it.”  
All four of the teens nodded. Logan was scarier than Rogue. Way scarier. Rogue was tremor-scary. Logan was more ‘wet-your-pants’ kind of scary.  
The speakers crackled to life as Amanda talked,  
“Okay. You guys are in position. I’m about to cut the power. Rogue, Nightcrawler, start heading out.”  
Kurt grabbed Rogue’s shoulder and they teleported out of the ship. Bobby opened the bottom door to it extended downwards, like the opening to that spaceship in Star Wars. Whatever the thing was called. Something after a bird and a year or something. Century Hawk? Whatever.  
“Three. Two. One. Power’s out. Go!”  
Kitty and Bobby sprinted.  
~  
They had made it through quite easily. Whatever Rogue and Kurt were doing seemed to work, judging from the shouts of surprise and shock coming from wherever they were. Kitty and Bobby followed the path, through the backdoor and down a dark hallway to the third door on the left, where Kitty paused.  
“Stand watch.” She whispered, barely audible even with Bobby so close to her. She disappeared through the door and re-emerged a few seconds later, dragging a limp figure by forearm.  
“Let’s go!” Kitty hissed in the dark. With a swipe of his hand, Bobby produced an ice-sheet large enough for all three of them.  
“Hold on to Scott.” Bobby whispered back as he braced his knees to move. Kitty knelt down, one knee touching the ice, the other leg steadying her. She gripped Scott tightly as Bobby placed his right hand on her shoulder.  
Then they were off, zooming through the hallway. “Kitty!” Bobby hissed as they approached the locked door. “Got it!”  
They rushed right through the door and to the outside. Bobby didn’t look back, if he did he’d loose his concentration. Instead he extended their icy slate so that it looked like a slip and slide you’d find in someone’s backyard. They skid on the ice right up until they reached the open door. Bobby let go of Kitty and jumped off the ice. Kitty stood, and the two of them dragged their limp-bodied friend onto the jet, each holding one arm. As soon as they got on, Kurt and Rogue appeared out of nowhere, Rogue sporting a nasty looking black eye on her face, Kurt with a sizeable cut on his shoulder.  
“Go! Go!” Rogue shouted. Logan lifted them off the ground as he shut the door, and they were in the sky within seconds.  
“Power’s on! Did you get him?”  
Bobby looked at Scott. Despite the metal bar wrapped firmly around his eyes like they had seen earlier, on the upper portion of his head there were angry bruises and puckered scarring on the left side. Scott lay unmoving, lips bitten raw. Scott’s left wrist bent and mangled, dried blood caked across an open wound in his chest, still bleeding despite the blood that had dried around it, staining most of his chest and shirt red.  
“Yeah,” Bobby croaked out. “We found him.”


	6. Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rogue makes a phone call.

In a small apartment, a phone rang. Long, delicate fingers reached across the landline receiver and picked it up.  
“Allo?”  
“J'aimerais parler à Raven.” Came a voice from the other end, younger sounding, with an American accent.  
“Qui est à l'appareil?”  
There was a hesitation.  
“Qui est à l'appareil?”  
“Rogue.”  
“Un instant.”  
The woman covered the receiver and turned to where a young woman with blonde hair sat, leaning over a book.  
“It’s for you. Someone named red?”  
The woman looked up. “Red? What-?” The woman got up and walked to the phone, the handle passing hands. “Thank you, Marie. Go home early today.”  
“Oui. Merci.”  
The former walked out of the room, leaving the blonde woman behind.  
“Qui est à l'appareil?”  
“Raven?”  
“Wait- Rogue?”  
“Who was that speaking in French before?”  
Raven Darkholme sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “No one. What? Why are you making a very expensive collect call right now?”  
“It’s Scott. Something bad happened.”  
Raven felt her pulse speed up, if only for a moment.  
“What?”  
“I came home and the place was a mess, Scott was gone. We did some digging and he was kidnapped by the Hellfire Club.”  
“How long ago?”  
“A few days? He went missing Friday. We got him back about ten hours later on Saturday, but he’s really messed up. Logan did what he could physically, but… it’s just, he won’t wake up. And we’re pretty sure he was some internal bleeding. He’s in some kind of telepathic coma. And he can’t see.”  
“What.”  
“Like, there’s this metal vice wrapped around his eyes. Kitty can’t phase it off, Logan can’t get it off. There’s a lock on it and when I tried to pick it, it shocked me. I passed out from it. We need your help. We need the Professor’s help.”  
“You know he won’t go back there.”  
“Tell him to get his ass in gear. Scott needs him. He needs someone. Things aren’t looking good.”  
“Fine.”  
Raven hung up the phone and then turned on her heels to face a shaggy haired man sitting in a wheelchair, looking out the window into the bright sun-lit park that was across the street.  
“You heard all of that. I know you did.”  
Professor Charles Xavier didn’t look away from the window.  
“I can’t go back.”  
Raven grabbed a duffel bag.  
“Well you can’t walk, so I win. We’re going home.”


	7. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles comes home.

The moment Charles went through the door, he felt eyes on him. Kurt was sweeping up broken glass in the kitchen, a girl he did not recognize was holding up some trash bags over the kitchen while Bobby applied tape around the edges. Logan was leaning on the kitchen counter.  
“Professor!” Kurt exclaimed, dropping the broom. Without a second notice, Kurt teleported, wrapping Charles in a bear hug, before teleporting back to the broom.  
“Hello, Kurt.”  
Bobby glanced at the Professor before going back to the trash bags. The dark skinned girl holding the trash bag up dropped her hands as Bobby worked around the corners, securing it into place. She wiped off her hands on her jeans before extending a hand out to Charles, who shook it, if not a bit limply.  
“You must be Charles Xavier. I’m Amanda,” she looked over at Kurt and her cheeks slightly reddened. “Kurt’s girlfriend.”  
“Ah. I was not aware Kurt had a girlfriend.”  
“Of course you weren’t.”  
Everyone turned to look at Bobby, who had finished taping the trash bag around the window. His face was furrowed, eyes unforgiving.  
“Bobby!” Kurt protested, but Bobby crossed his arms.  
“I’m going to get another trash bag.” Bobby stalked across the kicthen, refusing to look at Charles. Before he left the room, but without stopping his stride, words leaked out of him that seemed like they were formed with his powers.   
“Welcome back, Professor.”  
Ouch.  
Charles understood his anger. He deserved it, nonetheless. Raven walked in afterwards, a duffel bag in hand, which she set down on the floor before looking up at Logan.  
“Hey.”  
“Hey.”  
End of conversation. Raven had always been quick to the point like that. When she found him hiding out in Paris, she just walked into the apartment, dropped her bag, and stated that she was living with him now. Brief, callous, and crude. His sister.  
“Rogue is changing. Scott’s in his room.” Kurt said.  
Charles felt his stomach lurch, but Raven pushed him forwards. “Let’s go see him, then.”  
Of course, Charles felt stupid. Why wouldn’t he feel stupid? He was letting his younger sister push him around in his wheelchair in his own home for Christ’s sake!  
His former home, he gently reminded himself.  
By the time Charles had cleared his head, they had arrived in Scott’s room. The boy was laying on his bed, a metal vice wrapped around his eyes, body hidden under a bedsheet.  
Charles felt his blood turn to ice as Raven wheeled him next to Scott. Without talking and like a man processed, Charles reached his hand out to smooth the frown lines on the kid’s forehead, fingers brushing over the nasty looking scar on the side of his head Scott did not shift at all, no flickering of movement, no awareness. The only thing that hinted at life was Scott’s breathing, rough and course, muddled with every breath out, shuddering with every breath in, a thin line of sweat around his hairline. It was only then that Charles realized that Scott was gasping for air, trying to get in oxygen to deal with some sort of pain.   
Of course he was in pain, he’d been tortured.   
The though hadn’t occurred to him until this point, although he was sure that the idea had occurred in the back of his mind. Scott had been tortured.  
“He won’t wake up.”  
Charles looked over his shoulder to see Logan walking next to the bed, putting a surprisingly gently hand on Scott’s forehead before taking it back.  
“He’s had a fever. We’ve tried everything. It seems like he’s trying, but…” Logan trailed off, looking down at Scott. “Stupid kid.”  
Charles looked back at Scott and he could remember. He saw the flames as Jean ripped the mansion apart, he saw his children die, he saw Scott crying, sobbing over the body of a monster who had destroyed so many. Charles almost hated Scott. Almost. For still being loyal to Jean, the jean who was no longer Jean.  
But whatever Scott was now to Charles, whoever he was to Jean, no one deserved this.  
The door behind them opened and everyone turned to look. It was Rogue, dressed in a black blouse and black gloves and black jeans. She stared at Charles like she had seen a ghost. And before anyone could react, she ran over to Charles, raised her hand and slapped him across the face.


	8. Confren-fucking-tation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rogue confronts deadbeat dad. Shit goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> help i'm writing and I can't stop. I've posted five chapters in four hours.

“You bastard!”  
Rogue moved in for another slap, but Logan stopped her, grabbing her by her waist and dragging her away from Charles.  
“You- you- sick- lying- bastard!” Rogue stuttered out, her voice cracking in angers. She struggled to breathe.  
“Rogue, I’m-,” Charles started.  
“Sorry?! Sorry, are you? How in the fuck can you be sorry?! You left, you piece of shit!”  
“I failed you all. I couldn’t stay.” Charles said quietly.  
“You failed us all when you left! You promised us a family! You promised a home where we would be safe. When we needed you the most you gave up. You left. You fucker!” Rouge tensed against Logan’s grip, struggling to get free.  
“I-,”  
“Don’t you dare say anything? Do you have any idea how much Scott had to do when you left? Do you have any fucking clue? Do you think he got this bad in ten hours strapped to a fucking table?!”  
The room went silent, so Rogue went on.  
“The reason they caught him was that he was so fucking overworked! He had exhaustion! Anemia! He vomiting blood from the stress for god’s sake, he dropped out of school to keep this place going! He got three hours of sleep a night because he had three jobs because of you. He carried the weight of your crimes and he almost died because of you! Because you couldn’t fucking man up!”  
Rogue was breathing heavily. She knew what she said hurt, but her blood was like fire coursing through her veins, feeding the hate in her heart. She hated this man. She hated guts.  
Logan was about to say something until Raven spoke up for the first time,  
“We should leave Scott to rest.”  
Everyone looked at the motionless boy laying on the bed and Logan sighed.  
“She’s right. No one can do anything like this.”  
Rogue finally wrestled herself from Logan’s no relaxed grip and stalked toward the door before pausing momentarily in the doorway before looking over her shoulder at Charles.  
“It should have been you, Professor Xavier.”  
Then she left.


	9. There's a Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott wakes up, although he's not too coherent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whelp I have so self control

Scott woke up.   
It was cold.  
Something hissed artificially and Scott tried to open his eyes only to see nothing. There was a vice squeezing his around his eyes. He was still there, here, which was there and here and knew he knew he had to escape, panicking for just an instant as he thought he would fall, slip-slide out of the vice, tumble away into nothingness, slip out. Get out.  
Then his feet touched the cool and his legs trembled under his sudden weight on them. His hands fumbled for something to hold onto.  
Acrid smell of chemicals made him dizzy? Mumbled conversation around him, metal a bone and rust and blood, so much blood, blood fill him and it filled the room, he was blood and he was heat and fire and he had to leave.  
He scrambled, feeling acid on his tongue. And he was so, so cold but so hot against under his skin. He fumbled and found a latch and opened it, climbing through and landing awfully  
He wanted warm he wanted cold he wanted to leave, to escape but he was so warm and so cold and so lost.   
How was he supposed to fight? He struggled, walking, the ground under him no longer cool but soft and scratchy and he stumbled and walked and the pain in his chest hurt so badly and he was helpless. He was nobody’s victim. Not again not again not again.  
He felt adrenaline hitting his system like a spike of ice.  
He fought against the hot hands groping at him, pulling at him, trying to restrain him. He fought it off, those hands touching him hurting him and he felt acid in his stomach with a sob and the pain was rolling up from hips to, and liquid left him, a rebellion of his own body. More burning liquid and his own throat started to choke him as he sobbed and he couldn’t breathe and suddenly he couldn’t breathe and more hot hands were trying to touch him and he struggled away, backing up and stumbling and sobbing and why couldn’t he see, he just wanted to see he just wanted to see her, Jean he just-the fire-the fire, the flames there was a fire and flames. Jean- she- what did she -  
And he could hear the voice connected to the hands trying to talk to him and trying to trick and him and he still couldn’t breathe and oh my god he was going to die and then suddenly he gets dizzy and there’s someone knocking at the door through the fire and then he can’t hold himself up anymore and finally everything is nothing.  
~  
They were silently staring at one another in the hallway, tension so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. Raven went to check in on Scott. Not even five seconds later she ran back into the hallway.  
“He’s gone.”  
“What!?” Rogue exclaimed. The group rushed to the room. Scott was gone, the bed empty and window open, curtains floating in light afternoon breeze. Rogue ran to the windowsill and leaned out, peering out.  
“He’s in the backyard!”  
She hopped through the window, Raven trailing behind her, landing on flawlessly on her feet in a way that could come from hours of practice. Rogue sprinted across the lawn. “Scott!”   
Scott was stumbling across the lawn, a mere two meters from the stone wall that would have led him off the property. Whether he hadn’t heard Rouge or had but simply didn’t care, he kept going, blindly doing a half limp- half run.  
So of course, Raven and Rogue caught up to him. He was an injured, blind teenager, of course they caught up with him. They’d have to be missing both their legs not to catch up with him. It also didn’t help his case that he was blindly stumbling around, not really heading in one straight line, nor going in any particular direction.  
“Scott!”   
Scott finally stumbled, turning around to try and figure out where the noise was coming from. Rogue stopped in her tracks when she saw his face, blood trailing down his chin, his shirt ragged and stained with vomit and bile.  
“What’s-? Scott?”  
Rogue was closer now, and reached out, delicately using a gloved hand to touch Scott’s forearm, but as soon as she made contact, he jerked away, the stench of fear practically oozing out of him.  
“S-Scott?”  
“Not again- the fire, not- not again.”  
Rogue looked to Raven, whose stricken faced matched Rogue’s own feelings. By now, Logan had pushed the Professor’s wheelchair to where Raven and Rogue were, and Charles quickly studied the situation despite the massive amount of guilt that was welling up inside of him.   
“It was yesterday. Yesterday- the fire- there’s a fire. Jean” Scott was muttering.  
“He’s…” Rogue struggled to come up with the words to describe her friend’s current state.  
“Scott,” started the Professor gently. Scott looked like he was about to throw up again, or that he was struggling to breathe.  
“Logan, get behind him.” Charles instructed. Logan did so, quietly walking behind Scott before looking to the Professor for any more instructions.  
“Scott, let me in.”  
Scott was shaking his head, hands coming around to his arms, scratching so hard on his arms his nails started to bleed.  
“The fire- she-Jean- she-,”  
Charles extended his hand, raising only two fingers and his thumb, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed in concentration.  
“He’s having a panic attack.” Raven commented, somehow still cool despite Scott’s current situation. Charles shut his eyes, concentrating, and suddenly Scott’s knees fell out from under him, collapsing in Logan’s waiting arms. Charles opened his eyes, and there was a brief moment of collective shock. The sun was shining, breeze gently blowing, birds chirping, and this poor kid laying in Logan’s arms.  
“Take him inside. Preferably to the second floor infirmary. Be careful, secure him so that he doesn’t hurt himself.” Charles said. Rogue whipped around to Charles, rage mixed in with sadness in her eyes.  
“You want to tie him up?”  
“Charles is right, kid.” Logan said, delicately lifting Scott, cradling the surprisingly light kid in his arms, Scott’s head resting on Logan’s shoulder, legs limp. “You saw what just happened. He might accidently hurt himself, or someone else for that matter. We just need to get to the bottom of this.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobby keeps an eye out

Bobby sat on an arm chair next to a spare bed where Scott Summers lay. Bobby didn’t take his eyes off of Scott as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, an expression that was a mix of worry and anger thrown across his face. Logan had brought Scott back inside, and they had secured his wrists and ankles to the bed frame with leather straps, leaving Scott to sleep. Occasionally Scott would thrash around in his stupor, and it took some gentle words and touches to calm him. They were now on the second floor in case Scott tried another great escape, but Bobby didn’t really mind. It made it harder for the Professor to see Scott.  
It had been nearly three days since Scott first freaked out on everyone. They couldn’t hide it any longer from the other kids, Rouge just forbade anyone from going to the second floor, not really explaining why but making it clear she was not to be disobeyed. Bobby and the rest still had to go to school of course, so everyone took shifts keeping an eye on Scott during the days and nights.  
Rouge would do the early mornings, from around four in the morning to about eight, and then Raven would take over until about noon when she traded off with Logan until around three when the older kids would get home from school. Kurt took the after-school shift until around five, and Bobby would keep an eye on Scott until around eight at night, when he’d trade off Xavier who took the night shift until four when Rouge would come in.  
Bobby couldn’t stand the fact that he had to encounter the Professor, even if it was just for a few fleeting moments. Scott couldn’t be left alone, period. He could sometimes slip out of the restraints and it was dangerous to let him flail about.  
Not to mention Scott still had that damn vice on, which no one could seem to get off. Raven had called Hank, whose flight was supposed to get in today to see if he could do anything about it.  
Looking at Scott, Bobby felt a twinge of guilt. More anger then guilt. Scott had always been like an older brother to him, and he was the only one who knew about Bobby… a secret he couldn’t share with anyone, especially not his biological family or his actual family at the mansion. Scott had figured it out all on his own.  
Bobby had kind of a shitty day at school, kids were being kids and picking on him. If it was anyone else he’d just freeze them, but apparently in public school freezing bullies is often looked down on. So Bobby just needed some time to himself so he ditched training, which Scott noticed without a doubt, but he didn’t say anything about it until he came looking for Bobby who was sitting on a bench in the backyard, looking out into the small little pond they had, debating on wither to freeze it at risk killing the fish.   
Scott just sat down next to him on the bench.  
“Long day?”  
“Just some kids at school.”  
“Giving you a hard time?”  
“They’re stupid.”  
“Most kids are stupid, Bobby. You learn that pretty quickly. Most adults are pretty stupid actually.”  
Bobby sighed, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around himself.  
“It’s so damn hard, Scott. It’s so-,” Bobby’s voice caught in his throat at the thought of the relentless torture that had occurred so often. Scott threw a kindly arm around Bobby and held him close, and he didn’t say anything. He didn’t scold Bobby for crying or for cursing, he just let Bobby be until Bobby was too tired to do anything but stare at the pond.  
“I know it’s hard, kid. But you know we’re always here for you right?” Scott said as he stood up and stretched, the setting sun making his ruby-colored glasses gleam bright.  
“I have to get ready for work. You can come in when you’re ready.”  
Scott started to leave, but suddenly Bobby spoke.  
“Scott?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m gay.”  
Scott gave a knowing smile. “I know. See you inside, kiddo.”  
~  
Bobby couldn’t help but smile sadly at the thought. It was the first time he had said anything like that out loud before, and Scott had just made it feel so… okay. His biological family had a hard enough time accepting the fact he was a mutant, “Have you tried not being a mutant, son?”, but this? It was the icing on top of the ‘disappointing son’ cake. Bobby just put all his energy into just being an X-Man, into training and school, it was as if he couldn't cope with being a mutant and gay simultaneously. But somehow Scott made it okay, even if it was just a little bit.  
The door to the room opened, revealing a lanky man with brown hair and glasses, wearing a wrinkled suit and carrying a briefcase.  
“Hank!” Bobby exclaimed. Hank McCoy smiled at Bobby and shook his hand.  
“Hey Bobby.” Hank’s smiled faded as he saw Scott, the gleam of joy in his eye going dark. Raven walked in behind Hank, and the Professor followed suit, much to Bobby’s dismay.  
“Geez.” Hank muttered, setting down his briefcase and opening it, pulling out some things Bobby didn’t recognize and started going to work on the vice around Scott’s eyes. Scott didn’t move, but he did give a groan as Hank messed around with the vice.  
“Can you get it off?” Raven asked, crossing her arms.  
Hank frowned. “I think so. But it’s going to hurt-,” There was a loud clank and Hank gently pulled two ends of the vice apart. Scott didn’t wake up, but he did groan as Hank gracelessly yanked the vice away from Scott’s face, revealing angry red lines where it had been compressing his eyes and a nasty looking bruise on his forehead. Hank reached into his bag and pulled out a bandage, which he wrapped loosely around Scott’s head and eyes, covering them shut in case Scott woke up and decided to blow the place into smithereens.   
“That was fast.” Bobby commented.  
“Quite. Thank you, Hank.”  
Bobby scowled as the Professor made his way to Scott’s beside where he placed a gentle hand on Scott’s forehead, closing his eyes.  
“That vice seemed to be blocking telepathic communication. I believe I can get a look in there now.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this was really something I just drabbled with after I spent a few days sick in bed. i feel like Scott has so much more to him then just the leader of the x-men and this boy-scout prick. there's a funnier side to him, but there's also a much deeper side. He keeps things to heart and feels like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. This is Scott summers appreciation because he deserves to have nice things and so many people think he's just a two-dimensional character.  
> it's post- apocalypse but it kinda throws in the elements of teenage scott and gang.... i dunno man, Scott is 17, Rouge IS 15, Bobby and Kitty are 14, and Kurt is... i dunno actually i haven't picked yet. I'm not sure I want to go on I just wanted to share this little snippet of an idea. if you read any of my others fics, (or my bud for whom I am beta'ing), don't worry. i have a plan to post ^~^ 
> 
> xoxo,  
> rlb190


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